Blood In The Snow 2018 Preview: The Whistler

It’s just a few more days until Toronto gets a little spooky once again. The Blood In The Snow Film Festival returns for 6 days of horror and genre films, from November 22nd to 27th, at the Royal Cinema. This is the 7th annual festival. When the fest first started, it showcased primarily shorts. Not one to forget it’s roots, BITS18 features two “Bloody Bits” short film showcases, on both Saturday and Sunday evening. Of the shorts being featured on Sunday, November 25th, The Whistler is a film that is bound to impress.

Directed by Jennifer Nicole Stang, The Whistler is inspired by the classic Pied Piper tale. It tells the story of Lindsey who is forced to babysit her younger sister Becky. After falling asleep, Lindsey awakens to find her sister missing. Someone has taken Becky and may be after Lindsey as well.

The film gives its take on the classic horror trope of “babysitting gone wrong” and presents a villain that delivers. In only a handful of minutes, The Whistler presents a fully fleshed out baddie who has been terrorizing children since the founding colonies of America and looks just as creepy and eerie as the legend that precedes it. You fear for the kids as soon as you see this mysterious man who steals virgins in the night. Both Lindsey and Becky, played by Karis Cameron and Baya Ipatowicz respectably, are also given just enough that you’re invested in these children and hope they both make it out alive. Playing with the theme of purity and sin, The Whistler treats the viewer to a fully actualized story that’s easy to invest in and packs a punch. Exactly what you want from a short film of this nature.

The style of the film hits all the marks. The opening 30 seconds are unnerving, setting the stage for what’s to come. Then the film switches gears and is very inviting, presenting a typical upper-middle class family with the usual problems and privileges it provides. As the story progresses, that unsettling feeling returns and carries us through to the end, increasing in intensity and fright.

There are many shorts playing at this year’s Blood In The Snow, both in the Shorts Showcases as well as before each feature film throughout the festival. The Whistler is one you don’t want to miss. With a compelling story, strong characters and some beautiful cinematography, it’s a fantastically chilling short that should be experienced on a big screen. It plays as part of the Bloody Bits Shorts Showcase Part 2, this Sunday, November 25th, at 9:30PM. Tickets are available HERE.